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Ja Morant sat courtside on Friday at the FedExForum helplessly watching his decimated Memphis Grizzlies host LeBron James and the LA Lakers. “G12” hasn’t seen action since January when he suffered a season-ending injury. Without him, the Grizzlies hardly resembled the team that had made so much noise over the past three seasons.
Some Grizzlies diehards noticed how the crowd in Memphis made the home court sound like they were in Crypto.com Arena, the Lakers’ home floor. When “King James” was introduced, the noise inside the arena unquestionably went up. It seemed like the visitors brought along with them a ton of their fans from Hollywood.
X, formerly Twitter, user Jay Boog posted a message that Ja Morant liked:
“Memphis be on so much tip when dem yellow teams come in town…shameful.”
Candice Howard couldn’t agree more:
“Pisses me off every single time! So embarrassing sounding like a home crowd cheering for them folks.”
The Memphis Grizzlies wore blue to give contrast to the LA Lakers’ yellow jerseys on Friday. On some occasions, the Golden State Warriors also invade Memphis in yellows. With Steph Curry or LeBron James in town, some home fans couldn’t resist showing love and appreciation for the two.
Ja Morant deprived Memphis Grizzlies fans of a superstar to cheer for
Memphis Grizzlies fans probably wanted to cheer so badly for their team. Despite playing the entire year with an injury-crippled roster, they usually played with grit, toughness and resilience. But, the team looked lost without Ja Morant on the roster.
Morant missed the first 25 games to serve a suspension for brandishing a gun for the second time in the offseason. With him out, he deprived Grizzlies fans of the opportunity to lustily cheer for one of their own superstars. It’s hard to blame them for turning their attention to two of the NBA’s biggest stars since “G12” is not available.
The Memphis Grizzlies crowd became alive again when Morant came back. With him leading the charge, the team’s swagger, identity and ferociousness returned. Unfortunately, it was only short-lived as the superstar guard tore the labrum on his shoulder. Coincidentally, Morant’s last game this season was against the LA Lakers, who they beat 127-113 in January.
Next season, Ja Morant is expected to start and give the home crowd the biggest reason why they watch Grizzlies games. If the fans remain pro-Lakers or pro-Warriors even when “G-12” is around, then that should mean something. Either they’ve grown tired of Morant or Steph Curry and LeBron James’ pull are just too hard to ignore.
Guess the Lakers players!
